I’ve been totally into Euro 2008, the third biggest sporting event next to the World Cup and the Summer Olympics. The championship started out with a crawl, the games now are absolutely riveting. If you want to get introduced to soccer on the grandest stage, Friday’s games are the ones to watch. Italy-Romania will feature the current World Cup holders trying to recover from the blistering embarassment from their loss to Portugal. Holland-France should be a riot, as the French must get a result from this game and the Dutch looked as good as Spain and Portugal have so far.
iTunes has some great podcasts that I’ve been listening to while working (head to Sports & Recreation in the podcasts section to find the Guardian’s podcast and World Soccer Daily’s, the two best out there). Best websites to stay up-to-date include Grant Wahl’s daily blog, Fox Sports World, and Nick Webster’s blog (also on Fox Sports World). You can follow the games on Soccernet through their Gamecast (click on Live Scores, then pick the game and click on Gamecast).
Probably the news of the weekend was Big Brown’s first to worst finish in the Belmont Stakes. I’ll admit that I’m glad that he didn’t win the Triple Crown, although my reasoning probably doesn’t make any sense. I know less than nothing about horse racing, only watching during the Triple Crown races. Let me give you my perception of what it has become, though. It seems as though a ton of horses are tossed into the Kentucky Derby. More often than not, the Derby favorites get blasted by some other horse who no one had talked about. Then that winner heads to the Preakness, often without most of his friends from the Derby. If he wins, then only a few horses show up at the Belmont Stakes. Often, a couple of good Derby also-rans join some new horses that we’re told are tailor-made for the 1.5 mile trek. My impression in listening to everyone was that this year was some sort of down year in horse racing, that Big Brown was a pretty pig in a bad litter. Missing really is the great build-up duel that us sports fans can just drink up. Horse racing needs Affirmed vs Alydar.
Here’s a great recap of that 1978 duel, narrated by Jim McKay, who passed away this weekend.
Affirmed won the three races by a total of less than two lengths, and the races still are riveting. McKay is a broadcaster who will never exist again. Not one of the beautiful people nor a guy, not prone to overhype, he became one of those iconic voices and faces of sports. ABC Wide World of Sports was part of my youth, and McKay was always there.
The Belmont Stakes of 1978 has to be one of the top five horse races of all time. Affirmed and Alydar were basically two horses who could run exactly the same speed lining up and running neck and neck for a mile and a half. It’s still an incredible thing to watch, these two horses running like a rope connected their necks for the last mile.
The greatest horse in my lifetime won the Triple Crown after a long drought similar to what we’re in the midst of. I don’t have to give you the name of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. McKay’s description is above, and ESPN Sports Century’s two-parter is below. The Belmont Stakes run is described very well in the 2nd part below, a Forest Gump-like sprint for the ages. It was a freak of nature performance, “…an almost supernatural experience.”
Another major disappointment from the weekend was the men’s French Open. I was a big-time youth tennis player and used to eat up everything tennis for a long time. I don’t follow tennis much anymore, and it’s hard to figure out exactly who Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal really are. Federer is possibly the greatest player in history, in the tiny group that includes Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg. Nadal seems more like Guillermo Vilas to Federer rather than Laver’s Newcombe, Sampras’s Agassi, or Borg’s McEnroe. This was supposed to be the year that Federer finally pushed through in the French Open. After the 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 bludgenoning in the final, it is clear Federer will never beat Nadal at the French Open. His only hope to take down the French is for Nadal to be hit by a truck.
I spent most of my time when I wasn’t working this summer watching Euro 2008, arguably the third biggest sporting event in the world after the World Cup and the Summer Olympics. The Group of Death starts today (Holland, Italy, France, and Romania). There is a real magic to the start of every match, and every match is exactly the same. The two teams walk out side-by-side, each holding the hand of a young boy or girl in their opponents kits or uniforms (incidentally, just to show you how we can screw this up, the kids walking with the US-Argentina players in the Meadowlands last night were wearing McDonald’s t-shirts). The teams line up on either side of the referees for the match at midfield, then the national anthems are played. No over-the-top singers, just half of the players gabling the words, half of the players stone-faced, and half of the stadium screaming the lyrics with national pride. The camera pans every time from the center down to the last player, showing each player’s face. Rinse and repeat for their opponent.
I sweated my buddy Liz Lieu through most of the night as she went deep in the $2.5k NLHE event at the WSOP. Busted late in 28th place, which I’m sure she’s excited about yet frustrated with. When you can look around and see the Final Table so close, it stings that much more.
The weekend in sports showed a great deal about what’s right and wrong with sports today. Let’s take a peek.
You don’t need me to tell you how hot MMA is today. The hard-core fans know all the nuances of different fighters and can debate ad nauseum’s whose background and techniques make for the better fighter. As a general sports fan, I dip my toe in when a personality or story pulls me in. CBS and EliteX brought that Saturday night with the Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson v James Thompson bout headlining the first prime time network airing of MMA. I joined in with the Robbie Lawler-Scott Smith bout, which was becoming a terrific fight until Lawler accidentally poked Smith in the eye. Smith seemed to be trying to get his eye cleared when the physician called the fight, leading to alot of chaos and frustration on both fighters. What was supposed to be the typical powderpuff type of fight for an upcoming fight turned into an embarassment for everyone involved. Thompson dominated Kimbo for much of the bout, turning the streetballing legend into a Greco-Roman what-not-to-do instructional video. Kimbo finally landed a couple of blows in the 3rd/last round, popping this huge cauliflower appendage that used to be an ear on Thompson’s head. After a few more headshots that Thompson was weathering, the ref stopped the fight. Thompson was flabbergasted (these guys are supposed to basically fight until someone submits, right?), and Kimbo almost passed out on the canvas and during the interviews immediately following in the ring.
Mission accomplished for MMA and CBS, as MMA Junkie reports this morning great initial ratings for the telecast even without the Kimbo-Thompson fight (which started after 11:00 EST). But on a night that should have been a terrific introduction to MMA, the sport fell flat for the casual newbie. The announcers overhyped and were so intrinsically tied to the success of the episode, had difficulty for blunt commentary. None of the three could state that Thompson won the first two rounds (when even I could figure that out), nor could they come out and say that he needed a knockout or miracle to keep the Kimbo locomotive surging along. It came off like the WWF, exactly what MMA is not. And I don’t think this was Kimbo’s fault as he seemed quite clear that he was working very hard trying to figure out this MMA thing. No, the whole thing was just a bit off (including the MMA version of the University of Georgia paying the Citadel $500k to travel to Athens and get beat up, which is basically what Gina Carano did when she had to give Kaitlin Young 12.5% of her pay when she couldn’t make weight). That this came from a sport seemingly sophisticated in creating cards and excitement for pay-per-view makes the whole thing even more difficult to figure out.
This weekend was also the end of NASCAR’s racing on Fox for the season, with Kyle “The Evil Man” Busch taking his third race in five weeks. NASCAR gets so many things right when it comes to the drivers and the integration of marketing with the purity of the sport, but I have to say I’ve always been a sports purist when it comes to NASCAR and “The Chase.”. In a word, I hate it. For anyone new to NASCAR, drivers race to see who is in the top twelve in points after the summer (or at some point in the future). The top twelve then are in “The Chase,” and everyone virtually starts even for the last ten races (drivers start now with 5,000 points plus ten points for each race won in the first 26 races, but it basically all starting from scratch).
The Chase was invented to force fans to watch the races at the end of the season when most people are on to college football or the NFL. The fact that the marquee race of the season is the first race always complicates things for NASCAR, but back to The Chase. Maybe I’m just dumb, but I’ve never liked the fact that someone can dominate a season (like Busch is doing now) then have to have all that wiped out, all for the glory of television ratings. Of course, that is the essence of American sport, the irrelevant regular season vs the end-of-season tournament. At the halfway point in the season, only Jeff Burton is within 150 points of Busch, who is starting to make stock car (and truck) racing look like Formula One with Michael Schumacher. I just don’t like it.
What is right with televised sports? The Memorial was won this weekend by white-hot Kenny Perry, the best player in the post Tiger-knee-scope era. He finally held it together to put up a -3 final round and take Jack’s tourney. Seeing Nicklaus there to greet Mike Weir and Matthew Goggin on the last hole was pretty special, and it had to be overwhelming to Goggin, the Aussie who barely kept his PGA Tour card last season. Today is another special part of golf, with US Open qualifiers being held around the US. Top pros join everyone from journeymen to top college players to grizzled amateurs to teaching pros to local high school hotshots, all trying to play their way into our national championship.
Maybe I’ve become an old fart cynic. You be the judge.
Two champs were crowned yesterday, with the culmination of the Champions League in Moscow and American Idol in LA. Two worthy yet unexpected winners in Manchester United and David Cook.
As always, you can get the best commentary about American Idol from Michael Slezak at EW.com. Included in EW’s coverage are the first Q&A’s with winner David Cook and runner-up David Archuleta (where you can almost feel his wrist swelling from the allergic reaction he’s having to the bracelet he’s wearing as he answers the questions). We fast forwarded through as much of the finale as we could, watching it after Top Chef was done (and if you’re not watching Top Chef, you’re missing some great food for anyone who loves great food!).
We pushed through all of the medleys and ridiculousness of these finales when I had to stop at Syesha and Seal. She set the tone for the show’s performances, looking almost giddy at times to be singing with Seal in front of America.
The other highlights of the night were Carly Smithson’s duet with Michael Johns, Brooke White singing barefoot with Graham Nash, David Cook with ZZ Top (you knew he just kept shaking his head that he and his little stubble were next to those beards), and even David Archuleta with One Republic. It was the first time in about ten weeks that I liked Ahchuleta, and maybe the first time I could see him doing something other than joining Up with People.
If I’m going to honest with you, I have to say that I was expecting to see Men Without Hats, Milli Vanilli, Ray Parker Jr, or Billy Ocean after George Michael pimped his upcoming Wham tour. The Jonas Brothers (who I’d never seen) added some here and now to the parade of acts, and AI should head in that direction as much as possible.
Then David Cook took it all. Cook could have turned his nose up at American Idol throughout the season, as it seemed AI needed him alot more than the reverse. He’s been humble and gracious throughout, and did so until the very end last night. America, surprisingly, got it right. I’m still an American Idol junkie, but they need to revamp all the fluff in the show if they want to see the ratings head north. They won’t get rid of Paula and Randy unfortunately, which would help as well.
Earlier in the day, Manchester United bested Chelsea in penalty kicks to take the Champions League final. There was really no reason that the game was as good as it turned out to be. It could have been a slugfest, as in more like a slug or snail, as in a defensive war of attrition. What materialized wasn’t necessarily the beautiful game of Brazil, but it was tense and entertaining throughout.
When Christiano Ronaldo headed Man U into the lead, I felt like we were really going to see a great game. The Red Devils had a bunch of chances to extend the lead to 2-0 and 3-0, but Tevez last whiff opened the door for Frankie Lampard’s equalizer at the end of the first half.
Chelsea had the better of the second half but could not push the winning goal through. Didier Drogba and Lampard both hit the woodwork It was really two teams evenly matched, and then a situation only found in soccer set the stage for the penalty kicks drama. I actually haven’t seen the blow-by-blow analysis of exactly what happened, but here is my best guess after watching it once.
With Chelsea players cramping due to the field conditions (torrential rain on a turf which had replaced the existing turf when it was determined the latter wasn’t good enough), their keeper Petr Cech kicked the ball out of bounds to allow for players to be taken care of (standard soccer practice when there is an injury as there are no time outs or stoppages of play). Play gets read to be resumed, and Man U’s Carlos Tevez (who was a workhorse throughout the game) kicks the throw-in out of bounds on the side, deep in Chelsea territory, then motions to his teammates to hustle down to defend the throw-in from Chelsea. Well, in the unwritted etiquette of soccer, this is viewed as extremely bad form (he was supposed to have kicked the ball through the end line so Cech could have a goal kick again). Chelsea’s Michael Ballack runs to Tevez and then half of all hell ensues (without any real swings or blows that you would find in a similar NBA or MLB situation). Everyone is pushing and yelling, then Drogba slaps Man U’s Nemanja Vidic (probably a 5 on the 10-point slap scale). As one commentary stated, everyone knew “…this referee wore tight pants.” After he settled everyone down, he issued a direct red card to Drogba then a yellow to Tevez, as captain John Terry whispered sweet nothings to Tevez through his collar pulled to up to his lips.
Drogba would have taken one of the penalty kicks, which may or may not have changed the outcome. Penalty kicks are frustrating way to decide a winner, but there it was. Having said that, you can’t ask for more drama than what followed (below).
Congrats to Cook and Manchester United on becoming worthy title holders. Cook could joining Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson as the best this show has produced. Manchester United should be more stable in the coming off season, with Chelsea ridding themselves of several players while overpaying for more. For the soccer junkies out there, James and the Giant Blog has a great video collection of the top goals from all the top leagues this year.
Chelsea v Manchester United. The top two teams from the English Premiership in the finals of the UEFA Champions League. London’s Chelsea was purchased by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2005, and he proceeded to snap up top players throughout Europe at record transfer prices.
Those players have included Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack (above). Abramovich has churned through great managers as well, replacing José Mourinho after his runner-up finish in the 2007 Premiership combined with winning the FA Cup and League Cup. He was replaced early in this campaign by Avram Grant, who has received almost no love from any Chelsea fan.
Chelsea combines top global talent like Didier Drogba and Michael Essien with English footballers John Terry, Joe Cole, and Frankie Lampard (above).
While Chelsea is more the new gorilla on the block (think the Patriots or Spurs), Manchester United is the premier club arguably in the world. I won’t bore you with the history of the club (partly because I don’t know it), but this Man U squad was birthed, spanked, and nurtured by Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1992 FA Youth Cup winners. This group of youngsters served as the bedrock of Man U football for over a decade, including David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, and Gary Neville. Add the enforcer, captain Roy Keane, and Man U was a perenial force.
The 1998-1999 season was the penultimate season of any English club, as Man U won the Premiership, the FA Cup, and in the most dramatic fashion the Champions League. I rushed into a hotel with my wife in Florence, Italy only to see Man U trailing Bayern Munich 1-0 in the 87th minute. Then, magic.
Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. If I wasn’t hooked before, I was after that evening. I was screaming deliriously as my wife tipped the bellman. Beckham corner to Sheringham to Solskjaer. The two goal scorers substitutes by Ferguson.
Whereas Chelsea has led the transfer market, Man U has been more deliberate. Ferguson has snapped up emergin youngsters while tossing away seasoned veterans. Wayne Rooney (above) was purchased from Everton in 2004 and has been a mainstay up front for the Red Devils. He has lacked the panache of Drogba and Thierry Henry but is the epitome of an English bulldog.
It is now Christiano Ronaldo that makes Man U sing. He’s matured dramatically since arriving from Sporting in Portugal in 2003. He was known as a ball freak who loved to dive and play fanciful football, but he has grown into a tremendous talent. He was immediately given the 7 jersey vacated by Beckham and worn by the greats of Manchester United, including George Best and Eric Cantona.
My hope for today is an early goal that gets the total goal up in the 5 range rather than a defensive 1-0 or 0-0 game decided by penalty kicks. Head to ESPN2 to see the kickoff in thirty minutes.
I’m sure there are people more ignorant about horse racing than I am. I’m in the general sports fan pool who watches the Triple Crown races whenever they roll around. So I am not qualified to even have an opinion about Saturday’s Preakness.
Having said that, did it look not look like Edwin Moses entered in a private school track meet? Big Brown went off at 1-5 odds for crying out loud. I explained to my wife that if she bet $1mil, she’d win $200,000. “Would I get my million back?” Every the expert high-stakes gambler, I had to think for a second before letting her know that, indeed, she would get that million back.
No horses raced in this thing, with a few threats waiting for the 1.5 mile Belmont to burst horse racing’s bubble. ESPN.com has an interview with Bob Baffert (who I’ve even heard of) singing the praises of Big Brown as a worthy Triple Crown winner. It is only fitting that the threat to the title is named Casino Drive, an import from Japan.
A couple of interesting tidbits. When you examine the pedigree of Big Brown, a strange thing jumps out (or at least it seems quite strange to me). The granddaughter (Mien) and grandson (Boundary) of Northern Dancer are the parents of Big Brown. Can you say genetic mutation anyone? The second item is a bit of tragic irony. Big Brown, as many leading horses today, will probably retire to stud after the Belmont, win, lose, or draw. He will stand at Three Chimneys Farm, where Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles was bred.
The Barclay’s Premier League/EPL. Probably second to the NFL, the Premiership is the best that sports has to offer. Tomorrow is exactly why.
At the top of the league, Chelsea is tied with Manchester United atop the lead. The regular season is the thing in soccer, and it is simple and just. 20 teams, play every team home and away, then add up the points for wins (3 pts) and ties (1 pt). Subtract the goals you score vs those you give up and you have the goal differential for the season. Man U is ahead of Chelsea on goal differential by 17 goals, so Chelsea must have a superior result to this weekend to take the title. They host Bolton Sunday, and Man U will travel to mid-tier Wigan. (more…)
I found an old email that I’d written to a journalist at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, with his response (see below). It was written a year ago, before the Mitchell Report and all of its aftermath. Is this behind us, should fans simply return to their ballparks and TV screens? And should we reward Commissioner Bud Selig by putting more cash in the coffers of MLB owners? I say no.
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Thank you for your article on Bud Selig. I probably have a slightly different take on the matter. Major League Baseball hid behind the Players Union as an excuse not to regulate their league for steroids. During the 90’s, other sports were aggressively attacking this intervention into competitiveness. Fringe sports like Track and Field and Swimming were the most aggressive as the manipulation of the human body directly impacted results. Just ask Angel Myers Martino or Ben Johnson. I agree with you that Selig has always been a charlatan. Whether he and MLB willingly decided the benefits of players on steroids outweighed the impact on the integrity of the game isn’t that important to me. Selig managed the league from 1992 until now, and I firmly believe all results and records should stand as they are recorded. Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro: all of these players played the game based on the rules and testing in the game at the time. The whole idea of interviewing players ten-fifteen years after the fact to determine whether they took steroids is preposterous. Even beyond the financial well-being of baseball, the Commissioner should be the steward and protector of the integrity of the game. Selig was there throughout, and he has approved of the results of baseball by his existence and inaction for the last fifteen years.
I would also suggest that baseball writers have no business jumping in after the fact to whine about steroid abuse in the 90’s, unless they were too young and weren’t covering baseball at the time. Why Bonds and not Ripken? Why Palmeiro and not Jeter? Why Sosa and not Chipper Jones? Because they look like they were on steroids? Because where there is smoke there’s fire? I am a layperson when it comes to steroids, but in my mind we only need to look at Track and Field and Swimming to see the level of sophistication that abusers have gone through to beat the next test. Without real-time testing, then every single player is legitimate yet every single player is suspect.
I’m afraid that the baseball media collectively seem to be a cross between Aretha Franklin and the camel with its head in the sand, the diva that they so despise in players yet ready to bury their journalistic intuitiveness in darkness of ignorance. I do agree with you that Selig should show real leadership and passionately follow Bonds, but I also feel that he should step forward and do the following:
Take responsibility for the probably steroid abuse rampant throughout baseball in the 1985-2004 (give or take a few years)
Declare that no players who played during that time will be judged any more after the fact
State that every box score documented during this time period accurately reflects the performance of all players during this tiime
All of this was the greatest blight on the game of baseball since the Black Sox scandal and the segregation of MLB, and the top man has to be held accountable.
(from the AJC writer)
Craig … Thanks for the comments. Because the baseball union has always been the most powerful of the pro athlete unions, it was always going to be an obstacle for MLB to get drug-testing. In fact, the union only started to cave after Congress got involved — that’s for all of the people who said Congress should worry about other things. That said, yes, the owners should have pushed harder. … I also agree that the media should take a hit for this, and many of us have articulated that on the air waves and in print the last few years. But it’s a fine line. The media gets criticized all of the time for throwing out accusations and things that aren’t true or can’t be proved. But now the media gets criticized for not writing more about steroids when, in fact, it would’ve been difficult, if not impossible, to have any evidence in a story. As for who has been the media whipping boys in all of this, it’s pretty obvious why: Bonds is approaching the HR record, Sosa and McGwire assaulted the single-season record, Palmeiro was VERY high profile in his denial of ever using steroids before Congress, etc. I have never heard steroid accusations regarding Jeter, Ripken or Chipper. Trust me, it’s not like any of us are covering for them.
(AJC writer today)
Craig, my thoughts haven’t really changed on the subject, although to be honest with you I’ve hardly thought about Bonds or baseball and steroids lately. I think testing will continue to get tougher, but so will ways to evade it. I don’t think sports will ever be clean. But there has been some measure of progress. The true judgement on people like Bonds and others will come with Hall of Fame voters. It’s already happened with McGwire.
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I’ve left the writer anonymous as I never had an intention to put his email here. I’m not sure how appropriate it is to email a journalist as simply a reader then publish the response, so I’ll leave the anonymity. So, is all of this still much ado about nothing by me?
